Cotton-gin.



J. R. FORDYGE.

COTTON GIN.

APPLICATION FILED APR.22, 1'911.

Patented July 9, 1912,

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JOHN R. FORDYCE, F LTTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS.

COTTON-GIN.

1,031,703.' spe'cacaaonof Application filed April 22,

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN R. Foreros, a citizen of the United States, residing at iLittle Rock, in the county of Pulaski and State 0f Arkansas, have invented an Improvement in CottonGrins, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,.is a specification, the drawings representing like parts'.

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to cotton gins of the type employing`\ saws for removing the fiber from the seed, and commo-nly known as saw g-ins.

In cotton gins of the common saw type,

wherein the saws work between fixed ribs which hold the seed back while the saws dei tach the fiber therefrom, much injury results to the fiber by'reason of the tearing and straining force exerted by the saws upon the fiber. The saws'carry the fiber bearing seed against the ribs and hold it there until I the cotton roll in the roll box can exert injurious extent.

sulficient wiping action on'the seed to carry it away, but in the meantime the saws have torn, broken, or weakened the fiber to an Among the attempts that haveheretoforebeen made to overcome this defective action, may be mentioned a series of saw cylinders having overlapping saws spaced so closely together that the seed could not drop between them, but in such anarrangement the practical effect has been that the" cotton and its lseed are simply passed from one set of saws to the other, and the last set of saws has mainly effected the gin'- ning operation with more or less ofthe same action upon the fiber as in the common type of saw gin and the seed was not eliminated until the final action of the last saw cylinder of the series. Further attempts have been made to solve this difficulty, which is Generally recognized by those skilled in the 3 hrt as incident to the ginning operation, by empl oying a series of grooved rollers in con nection with 'the saws and into the grooves of which the saws extended; but in such cases no ready escape has beenprovided for the ginned or denuded seed, and as a resulteffective and economic ginning has not been possible.

With these generally stated matters in j view, the aims and purposes of the presentv invention are to provide a ycotton gin of the saw type, wherein the vsaws may be enabled latented July 9, 1912. 1911. Serial No. 622,650.

Letters Patent.

fiber` therefrom without injury to the resultant products and permit the efficient discharge -of the denuded seed without interfering with desirable economic conditions.

The features of 'the invention for securing the stated results will best be made clear from the following description and accompanying drawings of one form of means for carrying the, invent-ion into practical effect, it being understood that the details of said Imeans may be greatly varied within the true scope of the invention in its broad aspects as pointed outby the claims.

In the said drawings: Figure 1 is a central transverse sectional view of a cotton gin illustrating one form of the invention as appliedthereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail front view showing the saws and vdofng disks-in edged elevation and the seed conveyers and their relation to the saws and dofing disks; and Fig, 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view on line 3-3, Fig. l.

The general` frame work for supporting the operating parts may be of any desired or prefe-rred form, that shown in the vdrawings herewith comprising side frames l rising from base portions 2 and provided with usual means for sustaining the operating parts of the machine. Since such devices and the manner of supporting them in their journals are old and well known, they are not herein shown in detail, in order to simplify the illustration.

Mounted above the ginning elements,- tobe hereinafter described, is the' feederf'fam brush blades and the agitating paddle wheels or like devices 5. rlhe frame work of the feeder is suitably formed and has at its lower portion an outlet G for dust, dirt and other waste product-s incident to the action of the agitators in the feeder, and disposed between said opening 6 and the agitators in the feeder is a screen 7,- which may be of any usual character, and is provided to permit the dust, dirt and other cotton prior to the seed cotton being fed to the gmning elements. Such ydirt and leaf chute orconveyer '8 to a suitable point away from the"ginni elements, as4 clearly indi.- cated 1nA F1011 The feederv is llkewise to act upon the seed cotton tofl detach the provided' witaspout y9. lfiylrli'gh which the 'brush that is thus eliminated from the seed cot-ton in the feeder V:[inds its way throughl a ing an open top portion 3 in wllilgtlll tissus i tained a roller 4 provided with stirrers or' impurities to be separated from the seed cleaned seed cotton may be fed, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, int'o the roll box of the gin In the present .form of the invent-ion, the roll box may be of any usual or desired character and in the form of the invention herein illustrated it comprises 4the usual side plates and breast, which maybe pivotally connected to the frame work'of the machine as at 10, while the bottom board 1,1 thereof may rest against a suitable sustaining rod or adjusting element 12. In these respects the roll box and the parts described need not differ from those heretofore in use, the construction being as usual and operating so that upon raising the roll box or turning it about its pivotal mounting 10, the roll of seed cotton therein may be lifted from the saws of the gin to be dse-scribed to thereby suspend the ginning operation` `Mounted' at the lower part of the gin breast is the .huller roller 13, the blades of which are adapted to engage the seed cotton as it falls froin the chute 9, as indicated by the arrows, and direct the seed cotton into cooperative relation with the ginning elements.

Extending transversely between the side l frames 1 of the machine is the saw cylinder 14 which is provided with a series of saws 15, the teeth of which are intended to pervl form the ginning operation-that is, the detachment of the fiber from the cotton seed.

The saw cylinder and its series of saws 15 may be of any usual character and be driven as usual from its driving shaft.

Disposed in coperative relation with the saws of the `sewmcylinder is a doiier, which, in'the present form of the invention, comprises a series of disks 16 sustained upon a shaft 17 and suitably spaced apart, t-he construction being such that each pair of dofiing disks 16 shall overlap or interlock with one of the saws of the saw cylinder, as clearly indicated in Fig. 2. The doii'er and its disks do not act upon the seed cotton as do the saws of the gin, that is, they do not actively engage and strip from the seed thev fiber, but serve to engageand temporarily hold the seed while the saws act upon the seed, and then to lift and move the seed in an upward direction in the roll box, the said clotting cylinder and its disks being rotated in the same direction as theginning saws. To mo-re effectively cause this characteristic action of the dotfer disks upon the-seed after they have been treated by the saws, the peripheral edged portions of the disks may be provided with indentations or corrugationsfmore or less rounded, so as 'to engage and lift the seed and to move 1t in the direction of rotation of the roll of cotton and seed-in the rollbofas indicated by the arrows, Fig. 1.

From the construction shown and da liscribed as one form of the presentinvention, it will be noted that a saw passes between ior overlaps a pair of doiiing disks, and that at each side of each disk there is suiiicient space for the seed to move sidewse awa from the ginnin point, so that the seed is not retained at 51e ginning point except to have its liber taken from it, when, after being denuded or partly denuded, it may escape freely sidewise from the ginning point and not be injured by the saws. These disks, as shown, are preferably formed of thin metal, and are, as a consequence somewhat laterally iiexible in character, a feature that may contribute to the excellent quality of the product, because it prevents the seed being jammed against the saws and its hull more or less injured or stripped from it.

Extending between the saws 15 of the saw the purpose of which is to direct the seed in a downward direction between the saws after such seeddias been properly denuded of its fiber. To'flhis end, also, the saws yof the saw cylinderg'are disposed a sufficient distance apart topermit the seed to pass between the saws, and the seed conveyers are so formed as to provide a directing surface out at the lowe cated in Fig. 1'. The broad characteristic take part in the ginnlng operation, that being performed solely bythe saws as they pass between the disks of the doifer, but provide between the properly separated saws of the saw cylinder a conveying device to permit the seed, after having been treated by the saws, to pass downward between the saws and from the machine. In the particular form of the seed conveyers shown in the drawing, they preferably comprise 4metal flanged strips,` which may be secured at their lower ends to the bottom board 11 and at their upper ends to the top board 19 of the gin breast, as indicated in Fig. l, it being understood that one of said seed conveyers extends between and separates each of the saws of the saw cylinder from its neighbor. The seed conveyers 18 are preferably extcnded upward between the pairs of doiiing disks,as indicated in Fig. '2.

. From the construction thus far described, it will be noted that theginning of the seed ylapping portions of the saws and doiling seedl the fiber, while the latter 'move the treated seed in an upward direct-ion corre spending to the movement of the roll in the roll box, and that the said conveyors do not act to assist inthe ginning operation but simply provide a conveyer between each pair of saws to enable the seed, when prop between the saws for the seedto pass them4 part of the breast, as indicotton takes place solely between the over` disks and that the former ltake from the` cylinder are a series of seed conveyers 18,

of the seedconveyers'18 is that they do not i v 1cated and denuded of its liber, to readily' pass\trom the roll box downward out ofthe machine, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1. This it may the more readily do,

because the space at each side ot' the disks vofeach -paii is unobstructed, the disks are thin and laterally flexible in character, so that they may move away from the ginning point'onto the conveyer and then from the machine.

In order to preserve the full'length and strength of the cotton liber, it is desirable that the same fiber shallnot be simultaneously treated or engaged by two saws, and one feature of the present invention provides means to secure this object. In the present instance, the seed conveyers 1S, Fig. 3, are provided with a flanged portion 20 which extends inward or toward the roll box from the seed conveying portion of the conveyers and 'at the point where the ginning voperation takes effect between the saws and the doft'er, the construction being such that while a seed 21 is being treated by a saw and one pair of dotling disks, as diagrammatically shown in Fig." 3, the fibers 22 attached to that seed cannot be engaged by the adjoining saw, but will ride over and upon the flange 20. When the fiber has been detached from the seed, the seed will be moved upward in the direction of the rollin the roll box and finally ind its way onto the ledges 23 of the seed conveyer at eachv side ot the flange 20, and on said ledge the seed will pass downward and out of the machine, as indicated in Fig. 1.` The seed conveyers 18 may also be provided with the projecting' flanges 24"` at a point adjacent the huller roller 13 to 'eoperate with said rollers.

As hereinbetore noted, when it is desired to stop the ginning operation, the gin breast, including the seed conveyers may be turned around its pivotal connection 10 with the supporting trame to litt the roll of cotton in the roll box away from the saws, so that without stopping the saws, the ginning action of the machine will cease. At this time, since the saws are-so widely separated that seed can readily pass between them, it is desirable that the seed convcyer may not come entirely from between the saws or from between the doliing disks, thereby closing any lexit for the seed downward between the saws v:sa

and dolling disks without traveling over the seed convcyers. To this end, each seed conveyer is provided with a nose or projection '24, Fig. 1, which extends backward between the saws or doliing disks some distance and saws and dolting disks.

which, even when the gin 'breast is raised in the manner stated, still extends between the That the roll of cotton and seed in the roll box. may he lheld in ginning relation/to the mounted at 25 a part 2G`which,for identiseed in 'the roll box.

tica-tion, may be termed the yielding roll4 presser. At its upper end this yielding rollpresser is connected to one end of a spring v27, the other end of said spring being conne'cted at 28 to 'a fixed part on the breast.v

From this construction, it will be noted that v as the roll in the roll box is being treated by the saws and` gin, the roll presser 26 will press upon the roll of cotton and seed and hold it in cooperative ,relation with the saws. Since the character of cotton land seed vary greatly, it is desirable that the pivpted sup# porting end 25 of the roll presser Z6 maybe adjusted toward and from the ginnilg'point of the saws, and tothis end the pivotalpoint 25 of the roll presser 26 is eccentricallymounted upon a disk 29 which, by suitable means not shown, such as a handle, maybe y turnedI to carry theL pivotal point 25 nearer to or farther from the ginning point of the saws where they act upon the seed held'by` the doiHng disks. The saws having removed the fiber-from the cotton seed by rotation in the direction shown by thc arrowin Fig. 1, and also thrown from their upper portion the motes and other impurities, the fiber itself is carried forward and detached from the saws by a suitable means such, for instance, as the rotating brush 30.. In 'the present form of the invention the rotating brush 30 is surrounded by a suitable casing 31 and directs the cotton tiber into an exhaust flue or conveyer 32, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1. Obviously, other means for detaching the liber from the saws may be employed, and various modifications and changes may be made in the character and form of the various parts without departing from the true spirit of the invention. From the construct-ion hereinbefore described, it will be noted that the saws are separated a sufficient distance apart to per@V mit the denuded seed to pass between them', and that the said conveyers extend between the saws anddirect the denuded seed from the machine while passing between the saws. It will also be noted that the entire ginning operation is performed by the saws at the point where they act uponthe see'd as it coines against the edge of a pair of dotling disks and is there inoii'ieiitarily held while the saw pulls and gently separates the fiber from the seed while the dolting disks tend to move the seed upiif'ardly in the direction of the rotating movement of the cotton and Owing to the thin character of the dofer disks and the unobstructed space' at'the right and left-of 4the ginning' point, the seed is retained at lthe ginning point only temporarily, as will be obvious, and is free to move away from n said point as soon as its fiber has been taken from it and to pass to the surface of the rse ' 5 their edges notched, or serrated, or indented,

such doiing disks do not detach fiber from the seed and carry it out of the roll box as i f do the saws, but merely act upon the seed to hold them and move them in the manner herei'nbefo're described while the saws thus perform the entire separation of lint from the seed and carry it outside ofthe roll box. I make no claim herein broadly lto the combination with a saw cylinder or saw cylinders of a doiier consisting of disks having toothed or roughened peripheries.

What is claimed is: 1. In a cotton gin, the combination of a saw cylinder and its saws, a pair of dofing' 20 disks arranged close together one on each side of and overlapping each saw,l the doliing disks between adjacentsaws being disposed at a greater distance apart than the disks ofeach pair, and a seed conveyer extending between each of the saws and, separating and extending between the pairs of dofiing disks. 2. In a cotton gin, the combination of a saw cylinder and its saws, dofiing-disks having roughened peripheral edges and overlapping the saws, a hullerroller, and a seed conveyer extending between the saws and separating the doiing disks in pairs, said seed conveyer having a portion projecting from between the saws above the huller roller. Y y

3. In a cotton gin, the combination of a series of saws separated a distance to permit cotton seed to pass between them, a doer comprising a pair of thin metallic disks for each saw havingportions overlapping the saws4 at each side thereof, the peripheries of said portions being roughened to lift and move seed from the ginning point, seed conveyers extending betweenv the Saws, and means for removing fiber from the saws.

4. In a cotton gin, the combinationof a saw cylinder and its saws, a doler comprising'rotating ortions overlapping said saws and provided with peripheral indentations, and a seed conveyer extending between saws to lconvey the denuded seed from the machine and having a projecting portion extending beyond the peripheries of the 55 saws below the cotton roll in the roll box.

5. Ina cotton gin, the combination of a series of saws, a series of doing disks overlapping the saws to lift and'move the seed in the direction of the seed cotton roll movement in the roll box that the cotton fiber may be pulled from the seed by the saws uninjurcd, and a seed conveyer extending downwardly between the saws and having seed conveying portions to direct seed from between the saws, said seed conveyer having.

.the peripheral portions of the doenand means for removing ber from the saws, said means and'dofer being separated a distance to permit moting between them.

7. In a rcotton gin, the combination of a series of saws separated a distance to permit the passage of seed between them, a doli'er having portions extendin between the saws and provided-with rong ened peripheries, and seed' conveyers extendingvbetween the saws and between and within peripheral portions of the'doier.

8. In a cotton gin, the combination of a series of saws separated'a distance to permit 9g cotton seed to pass between them,` doler y having portions extending between the saws, the peripheries of said portions beingy roughened to lift and move seed from the." ginning point, seed conveyers.v extending be` 9'5 tween ,the saws, means below the doffer and acting to remove fiber from the saws, and 'al` protector to prevent motes thrown from the v saws between the doiier and said means' i from mixing with the liber.

9. In a cotton gin, the combination of a series of saws separated a distance to permit cotton seed to pass between them, a doffer having portions extendin between the saws, the peripheries of sai portions being roughened to lift and '.move'seed from-r the ginning point, seed conveyers extending" between the saws, a brush for removingsj ber from the saws, a hood or casi g for protecting the brush from motes 1 from the saws between the doier and brush; v 10. In a` cotton gin in which the fiber isf; taken from the seed by the action of a re-y g y volving saw,`the combination ot ginning saws separated from each other a distance greater than the length of two seeds, and a il pair of doling disks coacting with each saw the disks of each pair being disposed on opposite sides of andr overlapping the saw, the distance between the lpairs of disks be- 120 ing greater than the distance between the disks of the pairs. s

11. In a cotton gin of the character described, the combination of a series of ginning saws, a pair of thin metallic doffing disks coacting with each saw,-the disksvofreach pair being disposed onopposite sides of and overlapping the saw,fandsaid,pairs of doiin'g disks being separated adistance. laterally forming an unobstructed space,be- A1351 ning saws, a pair oi doiiing disks coacting,

with each saw, the disks of each pair being disposed-at opposite sides of the saw and l overlapping the same, the saws and pairs of disks being separated laterally a distance greater than the distance between the disks of a pair, and a' conveyer extending between adjacent saws and between the pairs of disks and disposed back of or beyondthe" ginning point to permit seed to move away from the ginning point.

13. In a cotton gin for removing cotton from the seed by the lactionof saws, a series of ginning 'saws separated laterally to per-` mit seed to pass between them, a pair of thin metallic doiing disks eoacting with. each saw,the disks of the pair being arranged at opposite sides of and overlapping the saw, and the pairs ofdofng disks being separated a distance to permit seed to pass between them, and a seed conveyer extend'- ing between adjacent saws and adjacent pairs of dong disks and disposed back of the pointwhere a saw and its coacting doifing disks begin their overlapping relation.

14.111 a cotton gin for removing cotton from the seed by the action of saws, a series ofginning saws separated laterally to permit seed to pass between them, a pair of: flexible disks overlapping each saw, 'and a seed conveyer extending-between the saws and between the pairs ofyexible disks.

15. `In a cotton gin of the character described, the combinationef a series of ginning saws, a pair of thin laterally iiexible met-allie doing disks. coaeting with each '.saw,"the disks of each pair being disposed on opposite sides of and overlapping the saw, and said pairs of doing' disks being I separated a distance laterally forming an unobstructed space between the pairs of disks to permit cotton seed to move away from the ginning point, p.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

4 JOHN R. FORDYCE- Witnesses:

R. E. BIsrroP, Jon SCHMELZER. 

